MARS HILL NEWS
by Tomi Henderson
The Mars Hill Rotary Club met on Tuesday morning, Sept. 7, at 6:30 at the Aroostook Health Center. The special speaker was Jamie Guerrette, Bobbi Jo’s mom and founder of Bobbi’s Build An Ear. She spoke of the way that the Lord has led them over the last year as they work toward getting Bobbi Jo’s ears made before she starts school.
Bobbi had the first surgery on her left ear in April and is scheduled for her right ear on Sept. 13. It will be a 10-hour day surgery again, done in Palo Alto, Calif. One of the things that 4-year-old Bobbi is especially happy about — she will have her butterfly earrings on when the operation is over. The doctor will pierce her new ears as part of the surgery! They will stay in the area for around 10 days until the surgeon clears them to go down to the LA area for two and a half weeks. When they are cleared to fly, they will return home and do their follow-up visits with a doctor in Portland.
They are very grateful for all the love and support they have received since they started this journey, especially “… to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine …” Ephesians 4:20.
To follow Bobbi’s journey, go to www.caringbridge.org and enter bobbijoguerrette. Jamie is very good at keeping everyone informed on what’s going on.
Bobbi’s Build An Ear has also been able to help around 20 other families in the area.
Ray and Judy Mersereau spent the last part of August traveling across the states of Washington and Oregon. They enjoyed the beautiful scenery with mountains, waterfalls, some potato fields, and acres and acres of grapes for the local wineries. It was interesting to know that the area is all scrub grass and sagebrush unless the fields are irrigated, so they would go from seeing desolate land to thriving fields of up to 10 feet tall vineyards. There were also many cattle and horse farms, although each farm would only have a couple dozen head out grazing on the open range.
They traveled through the Columbia River Basin and saw three large hydroelectric dams that formed almost 100 miles of lakes. They saw over 100 windsurfers enjoying the river, although I don’t think Ray or Judy were enticed to try it out. They’ve seen many wind farms, most with scores of towers. Ray said they made Mars Hill Mountain look small in comparison.
The adventurers made it to the West Coast on the afternoon of Sept. 1 and were surprised at how cool it was — 65 degrees during the days and 45 degrees at night. The ocean is very rough and there are miles of sand dunes. They strapped themselves into a special dune buggy and went on a ride that rivals anything an amusement park can offer. Judy and another lady in the buggy were having screaming contests; Ray said it was a tie!
They have spent several days on the Oregon coast, walking barefoot for miles on the sand at Florence. At Gold Beach, they enjoyed a picnic while watching the sun set over the ocean. It was beautiful and not like anything you see on the East Coast.
They traveled south down the California coast to Fortuna, where they spent a few days visiting the Redwood Forest. They traveled the 20 miles along the Avenue of the Giants and even drove the truck thru a tree that left only fractions of an inch clearance — and that was with the side mirrors folded in!! The couple said there was something very spiritual about standing among trees that are thousands of years old — some already ancient when Christ was born.
On Monday, Sept. 6, they continued south to Petaluma, Calif., and camped for a few days. They enjoyed a tour into San Francisco and visited the Golden Gate Bridge, Fisherman’s Wharf and Pier 39. They did some shopping in Chinatown and rode a cable car over Nob Hill. So many things to see and do in San Francisco — it’s hard to describe it all!
They have now traveled over 5,500 miles and are looking forward to seeing what is over the next horizon!
Tomi Henderson is the correspondent for Mars Hill, Blaine, Bridgewater and Westfield. She can be reached at 429-9126 or e-mail tomihen@yahoo.com.
